The Golden Retriever was proclaimed in the Scottish Highlands, at the end of the 1800s, and it was Dudley Marjoribanks, later known as Lord Tweedmouth, who wanted to produce a super retriever that suited the Scottish climate, terrain and wildlife.

The first stories about the breed were about Lord Tweedmouth's purchase of 8 Russian circus. These 8 dogs should be about 70 cm above the shoulder and thick wavy coat in different bright shades. Their job satisfaction, appearance and calm mind should have impressed Lord Tweedmouth, who used the 8 circushunde to search for deer on his gods Guisachan.

In 1952, the version of the Russian roots of the breed was effectively rejected when the 6th Earl of Ilchester, grand nephew of Lord Tweedmouth, published breeding books that carefully recorded records of all dogs held on Guisachan. No notes were found about Russian circus, but Nous, the only yellow puppy in an otherwise black litter, was found to be Wavycoated Retrievers. In 1868, Nous was paired with Belle, a Tweed Water Spaniel (a now extinct race) and this litter resulted in more yellow puppies and these became the founders of the golden retrievers we know today.

From the first mating in 1868 to the last In 1989, Guisachan kept some puppies, some were given to Shooters on neighboring booths, others to friends and acquaintances in Scotland and England.

The first golden retrievers were exhibited in 1908, owned by Viscount Harcourt, exhibited at Cruft's and The Crystal Palace, although the breed was not yet recognized as an independent breed. In 1906, Mrs Charlesworth got her first golden retriever, a bitch puppy without pedigree she called Normanby Beauty. She soon appeared to be both intelligent and an untiring hunting dog.

In 1908, she was paired with Culham Brass and in 1909 Mrs Charlesworth joined the Viscount Harcourt's and at that time they were the only ones who showed yellow retrievers. In 1909 8 yellow retrievers were put on Cruft's and in 1910 the number was 10. In 1910 a small group of committed golden breeders gathered to promote knowledge and interest in the yellow retriever, resulting in the recognition of race and the founding of The Golden Retriever Club in 1911. At that time, the same small group of people exhibited at all the exhibitions one could afford and the opportunity to attend. In a relatively short period of time, a few golds were also discovered on field tests, simply because the judges could not ignore the formidable work that the yellow retrievers performed in the field. Golden Retriever was still bred on license from The Kennel CLub when World War I broke out, and even though there were no field tests, some exhibitions were held until 1917, when the number of dogs at Cruft's was 70 dogs. When resuming field trials and exhibitions during the inter-war years, the popularity of the breed significantly increased, with many new breeders. The number of registered dogs reached 120 puppies in 1920, and this figure rose steadily until you had 1073 puppies registered in 1938.

The Golden Retriever Club held the first race field tests in 1921, even though the race had already proven that they could compete on mixed tests as well. At Cruft's, only 34 dogs participated in 1921, but this changed dramatically when in 1927 it was possible to count 263 at Cruft's. This number remained the highest until the end of World War II. The breed was really becoming aware of the export of dogs. Already in 1930, dogs were exported to Canada, the United States, South America, India, Kenya, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

When the breed standard had been prepared in 1911, the very bright color was not allowed, and in the 1920s the bright gold was not particularly popular, but on the other hand, you would have very dark and red goldens. When the bright color became popular again in the early 30's, it was realized that one of the original colors was excluded. The breed standard was changed in 1936 so that all shades of golden or cream, neither red nor mahogany, were the permitted colors. The first golden retrievers in Denmark were imported in 1958 by a kennel that no longer exists, and in the 60's, more than 40 dogs from England were imported from different breeders, which did not put their mark on the breeding, but perhaps on the cityscape. In 1960, 13 dogs were pedigreeed, and in 1975 the registrations reached their peak with almost 3300 puppies. Today, approx. 1100 -1300 puppies annually.